How to Fix the “HP Printer Not Printing Properly” Error

HP printers are top-notch printers that offer high-speed printing with accuracy. However, it might get issues sometimes, which are manageable with the right efforts. HP printer not printing properly is a very common issue for HP users. The issue may arise from various reasons, such as connectivity issues and incorrect configurations and drivers. If you are dealing with this issue, we will help you to get over this and use your printer as before.

Why Won’t the HP Printer Print [Causes]?

There are certain causes of why your HP printer is not printing. 

1. Outdated printer drivers 

2. Faulty connections 

3. Incorrect configurations in Windows 

4. The printer is running out of ink 

5. A paper jam in the paper feed

We have given the solutions to fix this issue below. 

How to Fix the HP Printer Not Printing Issue?

There are six main methods by which you can troubleshoot the HP not printing issue with your HP printer. Try out the methods and then try to print with the printer and check if the issue has been resolved or not. 

Method 1: Check Your Printer’s Status

on in your printer. Ensure that it has enough paper in the paper tray. Also, ensure they don’t get stuck or jammed in the paper tray. If so, please check out a way to remove the paper from the jam to prevent internal motor damage. 

Check if your ink or toner is empty. Take the help of the printer’s manual to check how to check the ink or toner levels. The latest HP printers easily show the ink levels or any ink issues on the screen of the HP printer. If you want service from the manufacturer, you must contact HP via customer support.

Method 2: Check Your Printer’s Connection

Start with the basic troubleshooting steps when you find that your printer has stopped working. Check the status of the connection between your printer and computer. Ensure that they both are properly connected to each other and the cables you use to connect them are normal and in good condition.

Method 3: Restart Your Printer

Restarting your printer is another good idea to get it back on track. To do this, turn off your printer completely and remove the power cord, wait for a few minutes, and then plug the power cord back and power on the printer. Check your printer’s performance.

Method 4: Set Your Printer as the Default

When you send a print job, Windows sends it to your default printer. Hence, if your printer doesn’t get the printing request, it may not be set as a default printer. So, whatever you are sending to your printer is put into a blank void. So, let’s check how you can set your HP printer as the default printer.

1. Open the Control Panel on your windows and select Devices and Printers. You can go to the Control Panel by searching it on the search bar on Windows 10. In the older version of Windows, press Windows and R keys together on your keyboard to open the Run box. In that Run box, type Control Panel and press enter. 

2. Search your HP printer in the list of printing devices and ensure that it’s the model you are having issues with. Then, right-click on the printer and select Set as default printer from the drop-down menu. If you see a confirmation prompt, ensure to click Yes.

Then, you will see a little green mark below the HP printer icon, indicating that it has been set as a default printer for Windows. Go and try to print with your printer to check if the issue has been fixed.

Method 5: Update the Printer Drivers

If the printer drivers are outdated, the printer will face issues in printing. Therefore, you will have to reinstall or update printer drivers. To do so, follow the given steps. 

1. Go to Device Manager from the Start menu. 

2. Move to Print queues and right click your printer driver and select Uninstall device from the menu. Now, follow the on-screen steps to finish the process. 

3. Go to the Device Manager again. Then, right-click the first option in the window and tap scan for hardware changes. Now, the new printer driver will be installed automatically. 

If the drivers are outdated, you can follow the given steps. 

1. First, find your printer driver by following the above steps. 

2. Right-click that driver and select the Update driver. 

3. Then, in the next window, click search automatically for updated driver software and go through the prompted instructions to finish the process. 

Method 6: Cancel All Print Jobs

This step is a bit technical but not too tough not to be performed. The printing task you sent is stuck in the print queue. If the printing job stays in the print queue, it can affect all other printing tasks sent to the printer.

Therefore, clearing the print queue of all jobs will help you get the new prints easily. Follow the steps to cancel all print jobs.

1. Open the Control Panel and select Devices and printers. You can go to the Control Panel by searching it in the search bar. In the older version of Windows, press Windows and R keys together to open the Run box. Now, in the dialog, type Control and press enter. 

2. Then, locate your HP printer in the list of printing devices. Right-click on the printer and select See what’s printing from the drop-down menu. 

3. When the new page appears, click the Printer menu item in the top right and choose Open as Administrator in the drop-down list. 

4. Again, open the printer menu and select Cancel all documents. Now, a confirmation prompt will open, and you will need to confirm to clear all documents in the print queue and select Yes.

Hence HP printer not printing properly is resolved; you can follow the above-mentioned methods and see if it works. Try to run a print again on HP printers to check if the issue has gone or not. If they didn’t work, move to another method.